Hopper holding means for battery looms



March 17, 1836.

W. H. BAHAN HOPFER HOLDING MEANS FOR BATTERY LOOMS Filed Aug. 21, 1954 WILL/AM H. Baum/ 1 Patented Mar. 17, 1936 UNITED STTS HOPPER HOLDING MEANS FOR BATTERY LOOMS 5 Claims.

This invention relates to a battery loom and more especially to means for preventing vibratory or rocking motion in the rotating hopper,

Heretofore many attempts have been made to prevent the vibration of the yarn carriers in a hopper of battery looms, which breaks the ends of the yarn on the carriers. Various devices have been employed for engaging the bobbin by instrumentalities to prevent the same from rotating while held in the hopper. Usually the bobbins do not rotate except the one which is next to be transferred, and it has been experienced in battery looms of the rotating type to have frequent breaking of the ends on the bobbin about to be transferred, due to the vibration of the hopper which in turn moves the bobbin and tightens up on the ends extending therefrom so that the end becomes broken, and the result is that when the bobbin with the end broken is transferred into the shuttle, sufiicient end is not present to be gripped by the filling gripper, resulting in defective places in the cloth.

I have discovered a simple and effective means for preventing oscillation of the hopper in a battery loom and therefore preventing oscillation of the bobbins by providing means which are adjustable to compensate for wear to prevent back lash, which means is the dog mounted on the transfer arm for advancing the hopper, but which is adjustable to cause a tight fit between the ratchet wheel on the hopper disk and the dog holding the hopper in position. By providing this tight fit and adjustable means for insuring a perfect fit at all times, back lash is prevented and the hopper is held in stationary position except when it is moved for a transfer operation and thus vibration of the hopper being prevented, the ends are not broken because the bobbins are not rotated while held in the hopper.

The adjustable dog has a lip thereon for engaging a latch and holding it in the ratchet wheel when the transfer arm is in elevated position which cooperates with the adjustable dog in holding the hopper against oscillation.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide means for holding the hopper of a battery in stationary position when not engaged in the transferring operation and at the same time preventing oscillation of the hopper and consequent rotation of the bobbins.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:-

Figure 1 is an elevation of the lower portion of the base section of the hopper and showing my invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 33 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken along line 44 in Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the numeral It indicates a frame secured to the loom by suitable supports such as H and having rotatably mounted therein a disk l2 having conventional cavities [3 for supporting the butt of the filling carriers l5. Mounted for oscillation by suitable means, not shown, as at 11, is a transfer arm l8 which is normally held in elevated position by a torsion spring I!) usually surrounding bolt l"! and engaging the transfer arm l8. Transfer arm l8 has mounted for oscillation therewith arm 20 which usually has a member 2| thereon engaged by a bunter 22 of the loom for oscillating the transfer arm when the member 2| is raised by a suitable mechanism into the path of the bunter 22. A suitable dog 25 is pivotally mounted as at 26 on the frame l0 and has a weighted portion 21 which normally moves it in a clockwise direction and causes the pointed upper end thereof to engage a notch in a toothed wheel 28. The structure thus far described is practically conventional except as to the peculiar shape of dog 25.

On the end of transfer arm l8 which engages the filling carrier IE to transfer it into the shuttle in the lay of the loom, I provide special means comprising an extension 30 having an arc-shaped lower face 30a for engaging the yarn on the filling carrier. The remaining lower surface of the arm is shaped to fit the type of bobbin in the hopper but in the present instance it has a slightly downwardly projecting arcuate faced portion 3! which engages a portion of the base of the bobbin as well as the arcuate cavity 32 for engaging another portion of the bobbin so that the bobbin is engaged at several points to insure that it is transferred while occupying a horizontal position.

In addition to this feature I provide a hole in the transfer arm in which I mount an eccentric bolt 35 having an eccentric portion 36 on which is loosely mounted for oscillation a dog 31. The bolt has a shoulder 38 so that by means of a nut 39 threaded on one end, the bolt can be secured in position in the hole penetrating the transfer arm. The dog 31 is mounted for oscillation on the eccentric portion 36 by means of a nut 40.

The right-hand end of bolt 35 in Figure 2 is slotted if desired to receive a screw driver so that when the nut 39 is loosened the bolt can be partially rotated to adjust the position of the eccentric portion 36 to regulate the position of the dog 31. The dog 31 has a weighted portion 4! which normally tends to move it in a clockwise direction as shown in Figure 1. The dog has a cavity 42 adapted to cooperate with a projection 43 on the transfer arm limiting backward movement of the dog or counterclockwise movement as shown in Figure 1. The dog projects upwardly and has a pointed portion 44 which is adapted to enter the toothed wheel 28. The dog then projects backwardly and has a portion 45 having an inturned portion 45 loosely fitting along the rear surface or left-hand surface of dog 25 so that in the position shown in Figure: 1, the inturned projection 46 fitting behind the dog 25, will hold the dog 25 in a close fit in a cavity in wheel 28.

With the parts in raised position, as shown in Figure 1, the eccentric portion 36 can be adjusted to cause the tooth 44 on dog 31 to fit tightly in a cavity in toothed wheel 28 and on account of the inturned portion 46 confining the point of dog 25 in another toothit is seen that the toothed wheel 28 which is rigidly secured to hopper disk I2, is held firmly in position and cannot oscillate on account of the fact that there is no loose fit between the point 44 of dog 31 and the upper pointed end of dog 25.

When transfer arm 3 is lowered to transfer a filling carrier into the shuttle the projection 44 is carried downwardly and is released from the notches in wheel 28. The upper end of dog 25 will then ride over the notches when projection 44 has moved downwardly and engaged another notch to rotate the member l2 in a clockwise manner. As the disk rotates to the position as shown in Figure 1, the upper end of dog 25 is gradually forced again into another notch, since inturned portion 46 pulls the upper end of dog 25 into engagement with the notches when transfer arm I8 moves upwardly.

By preventing vibration in the hopper the ends are prevented from being broken as the bobbins will not turn while held in the hopper, and by providing the extension on the transfer arm with the arcuate lower surface for engaging the yarn on the bobbins while also engaging the bobbins themselves during the transferring operation, it is seen that turning movement of the bobbins is prevented as the transfer operation takes place and thus the peculiar transfer arm prevents breaking of the ends during the transferring operation.

In the drawing and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are used, they are employed in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the I appended claims.

I claim: 1. In a battery loom having a rotary hopper, a frame for said hopper, a ratchet wheel fixed on said hopper, a latch pivoted on the frame and a projection thereon extending behind the latch 1 for holding the latch in engagement with the ratchet wheel when the transfer arm is in elevated position.

2. A battery loom having a rotary hopper, a ratchet wheel on said hopper, a frame therefor, a transfer arm mounted for oscillation to transfer bobbin's from the hopper, one at a time, said transfer arm having an extension thereon having an arcuate lower surface for engaging the yarn on the bobbins during the transferring operation, said transfer arm also having pivotally mounted thereon a dog for moving the hop per upon movement of the transfer arm after a bobbin has been transferred, the pivotal connection between the transfer arm and the dog being eccentric and adjustable to take up lost motion therein and thus prevent oscillation of the hopper between transfer operations, a weighted latch mounted on said hopper frame for engaging said ratchet wheel, and said dog having a portion extending behind said weighted latch for holding the latch in engagement with the ratchet wheel when the transfer arm is in raised position.

3. A battery loom having a rotary hopper for holding the bobbins, a framework for said hopper, a transfer arm mounted on said framework for oscillation upwardly and downwardly for transferring the bobbins from the hopper, a ratchet wheel fixed on said hopper, a dog pivotally mounted on the transfer arm and being adapted to engage said ratchet wheel upon upward movement of the transfer arm to move the hopper, an eccentric bolt in said transfer arm on which said dog is pivoted, means for adjusting the position of said bolt to raise or lower the relative position of said dog to said arm to compensate for wear between the upper end of the dog and the ratchet wheel, a latch pivoted on the framework and having its upper end in engagement with the ratchet wheel, the dog having a portion extending behind the latch for holding the latch in engagement with the ratchet wheel when the dog is in engagement with the ratchet wheel.

4, In a b.attery loom having a rotary hopper for holding bobbins to be transferred into the loom, a frame in which the hopper is rotatably mounted, a transfer arm for transferring the bobbins, a ratchet wheel fixed for rotation with said hopper, a latch normally pressed into engagement with said ratchet wheel, a dog pivoted on said transfer arm and also engaging said ratchet wheel, said dog having an extension projecting behind said latch for holding the latch tightly in engagement with the ratchet wheel when the transfer arm is in elevated position.

5. In a battery loom having a rotary hopper for holding bobbins to be transferred into the loom, a frame in which the hopper is rotatably mounted, a transfer arm for transferring the bobbins, a ratchet wheel fixed for rotation with said hopper, a latch normally pressed into engagement with said ratchet wheel, a dog pivoted on said transfer arm and also engaging said ratchet wheel, said dog having an extension pro jecting behind the latch for holding the latch tightly in engagement with the ratchet wheel when the transfer arm is in elevated position, the pivotal connection between the transfer arm and the dog being adjustable to cause both the latch and the dog to engage the ratchet wheel with approximately equal snugness.

WILLIAM H. BAHAN. 

